


How To Make Café Au Lait

by kombu



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Deviates From Canon, Eventual Romance, Fluff, M/M, Relationship(s), a little bit? it's like the period right after Leo returns, eventually
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-26
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-09-27 02:01:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9945404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kombu/pseuds/kombu
Summary: What Izumi will need:1. One cup of milk2. The right coffee beans and a press pot3. 2 Teaspoons of sugar4. Foamed milk for the top5. Someone to give it to





	1. Hard Pressed

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I’m fairly new to fic writing. This was intended as a Christmas gift for my friend Chi (@nobleduet), but unfortunately while I began the week before Christmas, I ended up falling into college assignment hell. So, instead of extending the wait even further I’ll probably break this up into multiple chapters and…most likely wing it……
> 
> happy birthday chi! i hope you enjoy this ongoing café izuleo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ou-sama is precisely that kind of person.

Izumi Sena taps the blender with more vigor this time, urging the last trickles of smoothie out of the container that was relentlessly whipping it up just seconds earlier.

_A smoothie in the morning. You’ve got to be kidding me._

If anything, he’s glad to have been repositioned behind the counter. Putting up with noisy customers has never been his niche to begin with. He pats down his apron and lets out an excruciating sigh. Something about “responsibility” and “unit rotations” and “work ethic” be damned, serving your own classmates is one of the most humiliating scenarios that Izumi could dream of.

The bell lazily attached to the front door rings, and for a moment the bustling noises of the cafeteria could be heard from the outside before it’s muffled by wood once again. An upward glimpse of pink hair is all that Izumi needed to see before his hands make their way to the warm glass of the breadbox, all the while maintaining a nonchalant expression. 

Before Shu Itsuki makes it to the cash register, Izumi has already bags a freshly baked croissant. He places the treat forward and motions to it as the customer stops a foot or so from the counter. Shu opens his mouth to say something. 

“Your oven broke. Or you forgot to bake and Kagehira is forcing you get something to eat.” Izumi interrupts.

Shu seems to have given up on what he was going to say and instead fishes his wallet out of his bag, dismissing Izumi’s conjectures. “This is simply on a whim.”

“Shu Itsuki, acting on a whim? Try me.” Izumi fails to suppress a smirk.

Shu returns the gesture, seemingly pleased.

“Anyway, here you go.” Izumi prompts Shu, handing him the croissant. “Show Kagehira the evidence. I can’t imagine how you would have turned out without him.”

Shu’s lips tighten as the contentedness on his face veers toward embarrassment. Fervently lifting his purchase, Shu exits the shop in long strides.

* * *

Arashi Narukami glides out of the kitchen and leans on the counter with both elbows, smoothing his hair out of his eyes. His earring catches a few rays of light and reflects them straight into Izumi’s pupils in the process.

“Oh, sorry about that, Izumi-chan. That was quite the faux pas.” Arashi can’t help but giggle as Izumi regains his composure.

“But besides that, what seems to be the problem~?” Arashi presses, setting his chin on his hands. He bats his eyelashes innocently but shoots Izumi his typical knowing smile. Izumi clears his throat, hoping that it would suffice for the eager boy still in front of him. He would be lying if he denied that something were on his mind.

_More to the point, what kind of person falls off the face of the earth and then just comes back?_

_“Wahahahaha~!”_

Leo Tsukinaga’s laugh sounds crisp and seemingly radiates across the room, unhindered by the furniture and hustling bodies that attempt to absorb it. 

“Ou-sama, if you have enough time to giggle, you have enough time to water the daffodils.” Izumi outstretches the watering can and turns his head towards the window, where Arashi’s newly potted daffodils are swaying every so slightly from the breeze outside.

Leo scribbles the rest of Mitsuru Tenma’s order on a notepad and taps his pen shut on it with a soft _clack._

“Got it!” Leo trots over and eases the watering can out of Izumi’s grip, and for a moment Izumi thinks that he sees Leo’s frivolous grin become a more serious smile, but when Leo turns once again from the edge of the windowsill it’s clear that he’s merely frolicking.

“Hmm~” Arashi muses. “I see.” Arashi shoots the coyest of winks up at Izumi as he turns around and makes his way to a table in waiting.

Although Arashi doesn’t say much, Izumi—now feeling particularly harried—shoves his face back into his work. To say that he had a couple questions for Leo sincerely was a massive understatement. It makes his blood boil.

The next time Leo walks past the counter, Izumi holds him back by the sleeve. Izumi’s mouth is dry and he has an intensely strong crease between his eyebrows, but on a certain day he loses his patience.

“Ou-sama is the kind of person who falls off the face of the earth and then just comes back.” That is all Izumi manages.

First there is silence. Second, there is a distracted Arashi’s yelp has his pen falls to the floor. Third, there is Leo gently opening the kitchen door and disappearing behind it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (nanalan voice) nasa izuleo


	2. One Cup of...?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Catching” Leo requires little skill; the act is simultaneously desperate and careful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't worry the angst won't hurt for long,

The next time Izumi catches him, it’s during rehearsal. “Catching” Leo requires little skill; the act is simultaneously desperate and careful. It’s casting out a fine net into the open ocean. Like a good fisherman, Izumi lingers outside of the practice room and prays for a bite. He waits. And waits.

And waits.

This continues for a few more agonizing minutes and Izumi debates finally giving up and entering the room when he feels a sudden clasping sensation on his shoulder. Izumi breaks his own façade, jerking behind himself only for his eyes to fall upon the shock of blonde hair that was always so pristinely groomed. Settling down, Izumi rolls his eyes a little. How Arashi keeps up the routine even for rehearsals is beyond him. Arashi aims a stern expression at his upperclassman.

“Look,” he says. “We’re all trying to readjust to this unit situation. We’re all still out of sync, but we _will_ get there eventually.” Although his mouth didn’t so much as grimace, Izumi is honestly surprised by Arashi’s words.

“I’m asking you to have some patience.” Arashi lets out a deep breath that he doesn't know that he's holding. “We’ve kept them waiting long enough.” With that, Arashi opens the door to the practice room with Izumi in tow. They join Tsukasa Suou and Ritsu Sakuma, who had been waiting intently. Despite his aggressive post-lunch yawning, Ritsu was able to lumber into the room early. It feels strange, Izumi notes. By now, the four of them, already assembled, stand as a unit. There is something nagging at Izumi’s nerves about waiting for someone who gave up on Knights—no, even though Leo was worn down, the thought sent a wave of bitterness prickling down Izumi's spine. More to the point, there’s something nagging at his nerves about waiting for someone who seemed to give up on _him_. The incomplete Knights practice a chorus, and Izumi does his best, but he's used to his voice faltering.

_A florist would not come to admire a flower, then leave it to wither and perish. Have I accomplished nothing in Ou-sama’s stead?_

As the four nearly finish their warm-up, _he_ slinks in. He’s late, but earlier than usual.

* * *

“We both know that you haven’t responded,” avers Izumi. They’re sitting away from the windows and the shade of the rehearsal room is coolly welcoming against the afternoon sun, made brighter against the pale grass waving at the two from outside. Sweaty as he was, Izumi quietly wished that they were sitting in the light today. He was missing the sight—Leo’s hair reflecting daylight—yet Izumi opts not to ask the other to move into the light while they were both slaking their thirst.

For a while there is silence. Leo doesn’t say anything, but he gazes at Izumi, and Izumi is looking back at him. It’s hard to focus on Leo’s face when Izumi’s vision becomes blurred with tears.

“Take your time.” Izumi says, with a shaky breath. Gathering his things with little finesse, he dashes out of the room.

* * *

If you ask Izumi what he was planning to do today, he would tell you this: He doesn’t foresee himself in a bathroom stall, slumped against the wall in a tremendous effort just to rationalize his thoughts. A lot of things have been unusual recently, Izumi rationalizes. Even more unusual is the obnoxious swinging of the bathroom door and unmistakable voice that accompanies it, resounding across the walls.

“ _Hm~ Hm, hm hm~!_ ” Leo hums in sing-song, approaching the only locked stall. Izumi hears one of the faucets begin running and proceeds to defensively plaster himself closer to the wall, albeit his sneakers making a deafening squeaking noise.

“Bummer, I didn’t have a chance to answer Sena properly,” Leo begins, oddly felicitous, “But if he were here,” he continues in a musing tone, “I’d tell him that he did a great job. It’s not easy to take on the role of ‘King’ knowing that your previous leader was brought down so easily.” Leo makes a point of turning off the faucet.

“With strength, Sena held our ‘fort’ with pride for all of Yumenosaki to see. Even after the ‘King’ was revealed and bruited to be a farce, and is trying to prove himself again.” Passing Izumi’s stall, Leo doesn’t leave the bathroom without saying, “I’m sorry.”

Ever so silently, Izumi creeps out of the bathroom once there is no sign of life. He half dreads and half daydreams about tomorrow's café shift.

**Author's Note:**

> this is a deviation from canon takes place during that awkward time period after lionheart and when leo returns! i'm not knightsP proper, so i do appreciate any corrections to my statements regarding the boys' profiles!
> 
> _who's entrusting these kids to serve other kids food? i don't know_


End file.
